Re: insertText: without a NSWindow/NSView (or: Unicode input without NSView/Window)

FROM : Aki Inoue
DATE : Thu Jan 31 23:16:00 2008

>> In theory, your class would adopt the NSTextInput protocol and then 
>> interact with NSInputManager and NSInputServer objects.  However, 
>> there seems to be a significant chunk missing from the conceptual 
>> documentation: how do you tell the framework that your NSTextInput-
>> conforming object is the current text view.

>
> Yeah, I read that doc and drew the same conclusion. My guess is its 
> private.

It's just simple.  The first responder in key window gets to talk to 
the input methods.  You don't have separate API (ActivateTSMDocument) 
for making your object "current" for the text input.

> As Ken mentions below, you can do it in carbon.


It's jus that the two frameworks are based on different design models 
8-).  Unlike Carbon that didn't have the view model back when TSM was 
designed, the input management interface is integrated into the view 
model from the beginning.

> Hasn't anyone attempted to implement unicode input in a Cocoa 
> application where the content display is not necessarily attached to 
> the NSView system (ie, an OpenGL game or other 3D application). I 
> seem to recall that World of Warcraft implemented unicode input, but 
> I can't remember if its Mac OS X layer is written in Cocoa or Carbon.

Sure.  All Cocoa-based iApps and Pro Apps that does full-screen 
support Unicode input.


>> You might be able to accomplish what you need in a truly hackish 
>> way: create an invisible window that accepts first responder and 
>> can become key.  Put a custom (maybe NSTextInput-adopting?) NSView 
>> subclass in it, and have it accept the text and pass it to your 
>> controller.

>
> I'll try this, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it won't work for 
> fullscreen. And I'll probably have to override a whole bunch of 
> other things to prevent the invisible window from loosing focus.

This is one way to approach this.  This is a technique used by Apple 
apps.

Aki